Maine Outdoor School for All

Dear Chewonki community, I would like to encourage you to learn more about the Act to Support Outdoor School for All Maine Students. This legislation, which was recently been introduced to the Maine State Legislature, aims to provide immersive outdoor education experiences for publicly funded students in grades 4 through 8 in schools across Maine.

This bill will partner school districts with overnight outdoor education organizations such as Chewonki Outdoor Classroom to provide every student in the 4th, 5th, 6th, 7th, or 8th grade an opportunity to attend a two-night, three-day outdoor school program. The Act to Support Outdoor School for All Maine Students recognizes the importance of providing students with opportunities to build self-sufficiency and leadership skills, understand and value Maine’s outdoor heritage, and the interdependence of Maine’s rural and urban areas. Outdoor school experiences develop critical thinking skills and improve academic performance, school attendance, and post-graduate success. However, less than a quarter of Maine students are currently able to attend outdoor school programming, with rural and lower-income districts facing particular challenges in accessing these experiences.

Maine Outdoor School for All (MOSFA) is a network we are collaborating with to advocate for this bill. For MOSFA to be able to provide the programming to make this happen, we need to pass the legislation, and for that, we need your advocacy. As someone who cares about the education and well-being of Maine students, I am asking for your support in promoting this bill within your network. Please consider taking the following actions:

• Reach out to your Maine state representatives to urge them to support this bill
• Use content from this email and the attached two-pager to aid your process of sharing information about this bill
• Talk about this bill with members of your community, encouraging business leaders, teachers, and parents to also spread the word about this bill
• Write and/or present testimony once the hearing regarding this bill is scheduled
• Write op-eds/letters to the editor in your local newspapers in support of this bill
• Attend information sessions as they are offered
  • Lunch and Learn on Friday, April 7th from 12:00 – 1:00 pm (Zoom link HERE)
  • Snack and Learn on Tuesday, April 11th from 3:30 – 4:30 pm. (Zoom link HERE)
• Send questions about the bill and how to get involved to coordinator@mosfa.org

Thank you for your time and consideration. Together, we can provide all Maine students with the opportunity to benefit from outdoor school education.

Best regards,

Nancy Kennedy
Acting President